My Man of Steel
by AdriDee
Summary: Post-Smallville. Writen in the future in 2013. Lois and Clark are together and happy. But, what happens when Clark is about to propose and Lois finds out that Clark Kent is really Superman? Read and find out! COMPLETE! R&R!
1. Smallville and Superman One and the Same

**TITLE**: "My Man of Steel"

**MAIN CHARACTERS**: Lois Lane & Clark Kent

**RATED**: T or PG-13 (language)...so far.

**SUMMARY**: Lois finally knows the truth...how will she react???

**NOTE**: My new obsession! The story will contain 5 chapters. ^_^

Chapter 1: "Smallville and Superman…One and the Same"

Post-Smallville: 2012

_355 Burrard St, Metropolis, Kansas; The Daily Planet building_

"Smallville! Where the hell are those files on McDonald? I asked for them to be on my desk by 9 AM today! What have you been doing all this week? Knitting?"

Lois Lane had only entered _The Daily Planet_ about a minute ago with a stack of papers under her right arm, a cup of coffee on her left hand, and a ferocious look on her entire face. She looked all around her desk, searching for something, and became very irritated when not finding it.

Her neighbor, Clark Kent, couldn't help the smile from forming on his lips as he stared at this woman.

He still couldn't believe that after all these years of being friends, he had fallen so deep in love with her. Couldn't believe that it had taken him 5 years to admit to himself of his attraction towards her. Not to mention that it had taken another 2 years to finally win her over from his competition: Superman.

It had already been a year later and Clark still could not believe his luck. How had _**he**__--Smallville_--won this _**incredible **_woman over Superman--his alter ego? _**How**_? He surely didn't deserve her.

Just then, Lois lifted her head and caught the four-eyed geek grinning at her. That only sent her blood boiling. "Is the fact that my career is on the line amusing to you?"

Clark rolled his eyes. "Lois, don't over exaggerate. You're job fine."

"Not without those damn files, it's not!" She placed her palms on her hips. "Perry's gonna pull my story from printing if I don't give him the evidence that McDonald is indeed his mother's killer. And the only way I can get _proof_ of that is if I have his personal files--which _**you **_were supposed to give me _**5 minutes ago!!!**_"

A sudden passion erupted throughout Clark's body then. It was amazing how eight years ago her anger and sarcasm used to bug the hell out of him. Now…

Clark cleared his throat, making himself refocus. He reached over to the bottom of his desk and took out a folder. "Here." He handed them over to her. "Everything pertaining to McDonald's whereabouts on the night of his mother's murder are here. Including, pictures of his car parked right by her apartment five minutes _before_ she was murdered and a knife that was found buried on the park near his home…_with _his fingerprints and his mother's blood."

Lois' face lit up and she took the folder. "Way to go, Smallville. After 4 years, you've _finally _learned how to use your craft well."

He sent her a mocking smile. "Thanks."

"Great Cesar's Ghost!" A barking voice came from above them.

Lois and Clark both cringed a little at the sound. They were almost too afraid to turn around.

"Lois! Clark! Get the hell up here!"

"What'd you guys do?" Jimmy Olsen, the lead photojournalist of the _Daily Planet_, cracked a grin.

Lois sent him a death stare. "You don't want to start me this early, Olsen," she warned.

Jimmy and Clark exchanged a look.

Lois marched up the stairs and into the office of her editor-in-chief. "What's going on, Perry?" She put on her happy face. Perry was probably one of the only people she grew a bit fearful of angering.

Clark adjusted his tie and fixed his glasses a little before entering his boss' office. He too, put on a happy face. "Anything wrong?"

Perry got up from his desk, a paper on his hand. "Close the damn door," he demanded.

Clark immediately obliged.

Perry walked up to his best reporters. "Tell me how in the hell the _Inquisitor_ got this picture of Superman before _we _ever did?!" He shoved the paper in front of Lois' face.

Lois frowned and took the paper to examine the picture. "What the--?" She read the headline: "_Superman Saves 20 From a Burning Building_".

Clark peaked a look from over her shoulder. "Chief, you can't expect us to be on top of Superman 24/7."

Perry grew angrier. He snatched the paper from Lois' hands. "First of all, _don't _call me chief! And second of all, what do you think I pay you for?! Superman _always _lands on front-page news! What the hell were the two of you doing yesterday, anyway?!"

"We had a date," Clark explained.

"More like _**I **_had a date," Lois muttered as she sent him another one of her glares.

Clark let out a groan. Lois was never going to let that go. But then again, when did she _ever _let anything go?

Clark had heard the cry for help on his way to meet Lois for a date last night. He had been two hours late and the only excuse Clark could give Lois was that were had been traffic. She had scolded him and marched off home. Of course, he followed her and apologized the entire time, but that hadn't been enough for Lois. She didn't believe his lies. And he could tell that it was truly getting to her--more than usual.

Truth was that it was getting to him as well. He was more than sick and tired of telling her lies and knew that if he continued the way he was, he was sure going to lose her. And that's something he could not live through. Living a life without Lois was not possible anymore. She was the one for him--his soul mate, he was sure of it. She was the reason why he had lived through such horrible obstacles for. And he wasn't about to let her go.

Perry shook his head. "Listen, I don't care about your love life. When it comes to 20 people being saved, it should be more important on covering it than some silly date. Got it?!"

Lois and Clark nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Now get to work, the both of you!" he went back to his desk and rubbed his forehead. He was beginning to get a headache.

Lois, however, did not leave just yet. She went to him and placed down the folder Clark had given to her. "Evidence on the McDonald article."

Perry let out a sigh and scrolled through the papers. After a short while, he handed them back to her. "Print it."

Lois nodded and quickly rushed out.

Waiting for them at their desks was Jimmy, with a big smile on his face.

Lois gave him another death stare. "Jimmy, just because you're the father of my nephew, doesn't mean I won't kick your ass."

Jimmy ignored her threat. "Heard the chief was pretty hard on you about last night."

"Yeah, how come _**we **_got the third degree, but you--Superman's Pal--didn't?" Lois demanded as she crossed her arms.

"Oh, he did. Right when I got in this morning."

Clark walked over to his desk and continued with his work. "What's up, Jimmy?" He had a feeling that Jimmy wasn't just here to irritate the crap out of Lois.

"Has Chloe gotten a hold of you yet, CK?" asked Jimmy.

"No, why?"

Jimmy's smile brightened up even more. "Good. Because there's a little surprise for you."

Clark frowned. "What is it?"

Just then Lois saw a figure walking towards them, coming from behind Clark. She turned and her eyes grew wide. "Mrs. Kent?!" She rushed over to meet Clark's mother.

Clark turned and found his mother standing right beside him. "Mom!" He hadn't seen her in four months!

Martha let out a sigh. "Thanks, Lois. Ruin the surprise."

Lois laughed and pushed Clark out of the way before his arms could wrap around her. "Long time, no see!"

Martha laughed as well. She hugged Lois tightly. "I know! I've missed the both of you." She pulled Lois away and placed both of her palms on either side of Lois' face. "Still been getting my son into trouble?"

"Please, Mrs. Kent. We both know that I'm the reason why your son's life isn't so boring." She turned and gave a smile to Clark.

Clark and his mother then exchanged a smile of their own, with a secret behind it.

Martha chuckled and turned back to Lois. "Isn't that true."

They stayed staring at each other for a little moment before pulling away.

Once they let go, Clark's arms were around his mother's small figure. "Hey, Mom. What's brought you to Metropolis?"

"Oh, I have a couple of days off and I decided to give you kids a visit." Martha pulled away from her son and turned to Jimmy. "Thanks for the ride again, Jimmy."

Jimmy nodded. "No problem, Mrs. Kent." He turned to leave the three of them alone.

Martha turned again to her son and Lois. "So, who's up for lunch?"

"Actually, Mom, Lois and I are a little--" Clark began.

However, Lois interjected. "I can cover for you, Clark. I'll let the chief know that you're off, tailgating Superman."

Martha snapped her head towards her son. _Had he told her_?

Clark immediately knew what his mother was thinking. He gave Lois a small smile and nodded. "Thanks, Lois." He grabbed his stuff. "I'll give you a call later."

Lois nodded. "Alright." She gave her favorite woman in the world another quick hug. "I'll catch you guys for dinner."

"I'll cook," Martha offered.

"Yes!" Lois immediately went to her desk so she could get done as soon as possible.

Clark grinned and went over to her. "Want me to pick you up?"

Lois sent him a glare.

He chuckled and bent over to give her a quick peck. "Call me if you need me."

Once Clark's lips touched her own, Lois melted. After a year of this, she still turned into liquid whenever he would touch her. And then, the desire started up again. Before he could pull away from her, Lois wrapped her arms tight around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

Clark completely forgot the world around him right when he felt Lois' tongue enter his mouth. He let out a moan and let her take lead, as usual. He felt her dig her fingers through his hair and pleasure rushed through his body.

However, just as her hands began to roam down his chest, he heard his mother clearing her throat. Clark immediately pulled away, feeling himself grow completely red with embarrassment. A groan left Lois and she tried to pull him back to her. _She _didn't have any shame.

A nervous chuckle left his lips as he quickly left Lois' reach. "Um…come on, Mom." He grabbed his mother's hand and led the way out.

Martha laughed and waved goodbye to Lois over her shoulder.

----------------------

Forty minutes later, Clark and his mother had finished their lunch and were walking along the park. Thankfully there were hardly any people around, so they were free to talk just about anything.

"So, I see that things are really going great with Lois," Martha said with a teasing smile.

Clark gave a chuckle. "Yeah, they are."

Martha stared at her son for a while, viewing the bright smile that was written all across his face--most especially in his eyes.

Clark noticed her staring. "What is it, Mom?"

She looked at him intently. "I've never seen you like this before, Clark. Not even when you…"

"Not even when I what?"

"Not even when you were with Lana," she said with all honesty.

Clark frowned a little. For a moment, he had forgotten all about his first love.

Martha wrapped her arm around her son. "I'm so happy for you, Clark. Just looking at you, I know--I can _feel_ it."

"Feel what?"

"How much you love Lois."

There was silence and bright smiles for a while there.

Then, Martha started laughing.

"What?" Clark gave a chuckle of his own.

Martha shook her head as her laughter grew. "Just remembering how much you two disliked each other at first. You two drove me _insane_!"

Clark gave in to the laughter as well. "Who would have thought, huh?"

"I know. Lois Lane and Clark Kent?" Her laughter began to fade as she stared again into her son's face. "I think you've finally met your match, son."

Clark's face brightened up even more. "I think I have too." He cleared his throat a little. "I really believe she's the one."

His face suddenly turned serious and it made Martha stop in her tracks right then. He kept his face from meeting hers for a while and she knew her son all too well to know what he was thinking about something serious right now. "Clark…?"

He turned to her then, took a breather, and gave her a smile. "She's my soul mate, Mom."

"I kind of figured that a while ago, honey." She reached over and touched his face. "But there's something else, isn't there?"

He gave a small nod. "Yeah…and it's actually great that you came because I've been meaning to talk to you about something for a while."

"What is it, honey?" She knew her son was about to ask her for her advice on something he was planning on doing, but felt he needed her approval first. She needed him to know that she respected any of his actions before he confessed anything to her.

Clark took one last breath. "I'm thinking about…asking her to marry me."

Tears struck her eyes then. A tiny smile broke before a tear came down her cheek. "What?"

He cleared his throat and nodded nervously. "I'm planning on talking to General Lane before I ask her, but I still needed to get it cleared by you first."

Another tear fell from Martha. "Honey, you know I support every decision you make." She really couldn't keep from smiling. "And I think it's one of the best decisions you'll ever make."

He bent over and hugged her. "Thanks, Mom."

She hugged him close for a while, before pulling away. She stared up at him with a serious face. "Have you told her?"

He knew she wasn't talking about him proposing to Lois. She was meaning about his secret. He let out a sigh. "Not yet."

"You realize you're going to have to before you ask her to marry you, you know. Because, even though my gut tells me that she'll be fine with it, if you decide to tell her until _after _your engagement--"

"I know, I know, Mom. It's just…" He tried to bring the right words out of his mouth. "I don't want her to react like Pete and--"

"Clark," Martha said in her motherly tone.

Clark nodded, knowing what his mother was thinking. "I know, I know." He took a deep breath. "I should tell her tonight. Before I even ask the general for her hand in marriage."

Martha frowned. "I thought that Lois and her father didn't have a good relationship anyways. Why do you want to talk to him first?"

"It's what Dad always used to tell me. It's what a Kent does." He cracked a smile, remembering his father.

Martha felt it too. "He's very proud of you, you know. Looking at you down from Heaven, all the things you've done…." A different kind of tear hit her eye just then, remembering her old husband. "You know that the one thing that he feared most for you was that you wouldn't find your other half."

Clark nodded, knowing.

Martha reached up and gave her son a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Mom." He let out a sigh. "I'm so glad that I have you and Chloe."

"You told her before you told me?" she gave him a fake-shocking face.

Clark chuckled. "Well…she kind of caught me ring shopping the other day and I really couldn't get out of her 50 questions."

Martha then got an idea. "Clark, lets go to the farm."

Clark frowned. "What? Why?"

"Lets just go. I'll tell you when we get there."

Clark eyed her, suspiciously, but didn't say another word. He took her by the arm and began to walk towards his truck. Thankfully, he had driven it to work today.

----------

Lois didn't get to her apartment until almost 8. Thanks to her covering for her boyfriend, she had double the work to finish. And it didn't help any that Perry was still very frustrated with her.

However, once she opened that door, she smelled a fresh scent of Martha Kent's amazing food. Suddenly, her horrible day was forgotten. She let out a moan of pleasure. "That smells good."

Clark was there immediately to take her paperwork. "You look beat."

Lois waved him off. "Totally worth it now." She hurried into her small kitchen, where Martha was finishing off with the steaks. "Can I marry you?" she asked as she breathed in that heavenly smell.

Martha chuckled. "I'm afraid you're not my type." She handed Lois a glass of whine.

Lois gave a fake pout. "Darn." She took a sip of her whine. "Mmmm, that's good."

"Was the chief hard on you today?" asked Clark as he came up behind her and began to rub her shoulders. She felt really tense.

Lois sunk into her chair and enjoyed Clark's amazing hands. "Oh, you sure know how to use those hands, Smallville." She gave out a moan as he rubbed a very tight knot. She leaned back and rested her head on his broad chest.

"You've got a lot of knots." He gave her a bit more pressure.

"Mmmm…that's what you get for working at the _Planet_. Oh," she moaned.

Clark chuckled. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on her bare neck.

Martha's bright smile was returned. Clark had never been one to show his deep affections towards a girl in front of her. It was strange in a way, but endearing at the same time. She knew Lois was different than anyone else her son had ever dated. This was the real deal, Martha could feel it.

Lois closed her eyes and gave out another small moan. "That feels good, too." She reached over and started rubbing his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.

Martha immediately turned away right as Lois began to kiss him back. _Alright, that's drawing the line_. She went back to her cooking.

Lois turned in her seat and faced her boyfriend. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought their bodies closer together. She gave a small moan when his hands held her tighter. "Mmmm…you feel good," she whispered. She licked his bottom lip with passion.

Clark took a step back once her hands grabbed his ass.

Lois groaned. "You always do this." She reached out to him once more.

Clark kept at an arm's distance. "My _mom_," he whispered, gesturing to the woman that was just ten feet away from them as his face grew scarlet red.

Lois gave him a death stare and turned away. She didn't buy that stupid excuse. He always stopped right when they were about to go any further. She hated that he did it. His main excuse as to why they still hadn't had sex at all yet was that he was inexperienced. He _claimed _to have only done it a handful of times in his 26 years, but Lois seriously doubted it.

However, she had been a good girlfriend and decided to give it a few months. But it had been over a year already! She was a woman with needs, after all! Shouldn't he meet up to them?!

"Alright, all done." Martha gave the couple a smile.

Lois took the opposite seat from Clark. She wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

Clark let out a sigh. _Just my luck._ He guessed he wasn't going to be able to do it tonight.

Martha sent him a small smile.

-----------

The next afternoon, Clark met up with Chloe for at her and Jimmy's apartment. Chloe needed some help running some errands and Clark had volunteered. Once he was done, he stayed a little while longer to just hang out.

"So, when are you planning on telling her?" asked Chloe as she rocked her newborn in her arms.

"Tonight," Clark said with certainty. "I was going to tell her yesterday, but then she got mad at me."

Chloe laughed. "Doesn't she always?"

Clark shook his head. "I'm going to do the _impossible_ tonight to not get her angry. Plus, we'll be alone. I've told the Justice League to cover for me tonight as a big favor. I don't want _anything _disturbing us."

Chloe smiled. "Wow, Clark. I'm glad you're finally gonna do it. I'm more than sure that she won't freak out on you. I mean, she didn't freak with Oliver."

"But this is different, Chloe. She was in love with Superman."

Chloe gave him a look. "Clark, you _are _Superman."

"You know what I mean."

Chloe shook her head and turned to her son. "Isn't Uncle Clark silly?"

The newborn made a little noise.

Clark chuckled and stared at Chloe's bright face for a while. "You know, Chlo, I'm real happy for you. Seems like after Jimmy walked into your life, everything has fallen into place."

Chloe chuckled. "I say the same thing about you and Lois. Well--_after­_ you guys got together, actually. Before, things were pretty crappy."

Clark nodded in agreement. "Well, I better go. See if anyone needs saving before I give any confessions."

"Alright. Bye."

Clark got up and headed towards the door. "Wish me luck."

And he was out of there like a bullet.

------------------

Rain poured outside as Lois finished setting the table.

Clark had been real serious this morning about having dinner with her. And something told her that this was big. Hope soared through her body. She prayed that he would finally tell her that they could do it already!

Just then, she heard her door open and in came in Clark Kent.

His glasses were foggy and his hair was more ruffled than ever. He was completely drenched in water. Lois never thought he had ever looked hotter.

She bit her lip hungrily as she walked over to him. "Hey there, Smallville." She took off his jacket and set it aside. "You're late…as usual."

He gave her an apologizing look. "Sorry. There was--"

"Traffic?" Lois finished his sentence.

He nodded. "Sorry."

Lois shrugged it off. She really didn't have the energy to argue with him tonight. Especially now when he looked just so damn…_tasty_.

Clark was oblivious to her hunger towards him right now. He felt real sticky and needed to dry off a bit. "I'm gonna use the restroom." He walked out of her reach.

Lois pouted as she saw him disappear into the hall.

He took off his jacket and she saw how his _wet_ shirt was clinging onto his _tight_ body. Again, she bit her lip and couldn't contain herself. Once he closed the door, she rushed over.

She _needed_ to take a look. Just one small peak was all she asked for.

When she tried to open the door, she saw that he had locked it. So, she grabbed the key and silently unlocked it.

She cracked open the door about an inch. She leaned in and took a peak.

He was facing away from her. She saw that his shirt had been thrown onto the ground. She bit back a moan. She was about to see him shirtless. God, she was dying just thinking about it already.

With her heart thumping in her chest, her eyes traveled up his nicely, built body. And when her eyes met his stomach, she frowned.

Why was Clark wearing a blue skintight t-shirt? And then, from the mirror of her bathroom, she saw it. Her mouth fell open in shock, but no noise came out.

She just stood frozen in time, staring at that big red 'S' on the center of his chest.

This just couldn't be. Clark…_her _Clark…? He couldn't be.

But as she stood there, looking at him, everything suddenly was falling into place. Everything was making sense.

His constant tardiness, his sudden disappearances _right _before Superman made an appearance…. Everything made sense now….

When Lois was able to move again, she closed the door and walked over to her living room, trying to catch her breath. What the hell was she gonna do? How could she face him now?

She tried to control her breathing as she turned in circles. And then, suddenly, she stopped pacing and faced the door.

She needed to get out of here.

She grabbed her coat and was out the door.

* * *

_Whatcha think??? Review!!!_

_Chapter 2: "Man in Tights". Lois has a talk with Chloe._


	2. Man in Tights

**Note**: Chloe and Lois have a small talk...

* * *

Chapter 2: "Man in Tights"

Chloe was finishing off some research she was doing when all of a sudden the phone started ringing. She recognized the ringtone. She picked up. "So, how did she take it?"

"Chloe, Lois is missing." Clark answered with a more than nervous tone. "Have you heard from her?"

Chloe walked out of her lab. "No. But what happened?"

"I got to her apartment and when I came out of the bathroom, I saw she was gone."

"How was the apartment? Maybe someone must have kidnapped her."

"The apartment was fine, but the door was wide open. I've been trying to call her, but her phone is turned off." His voice was getting more and more strained. He was such an idiot! How had he not _heard _someone come into the apartment--or heard her cry for help?!

Chloe let out a sigh. "Alright, Clark. Just calm down."

"Chloe, how do you want me to be calm?!"

"Look, I'll help you look for her. I'll go to McDonald, see if he had anything to do with it. Are you taking the skies?"

"Yes." He did another scan through Metropolis as he flew high in the air. Still, no sign of her.

"Give me a call if you--"

"Yes, Clark. I'll call you if I find anything," Chloe said as she grabbed her coat by the door. "And if _you _find her, give me a call." She hung up the phone and opened the door.

And right there waiting for her was Lois, looking almost lost.

Chloe let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, Lois." She hugged her cousin. "What happened? Clark just called, freaked out."

Lois let out a sigh of her own. She felt exhausted for some reason. She dragged her feet into the apartment. "Call him and tell him I'm alright."

Chloe shut the door and frowned. This was odd behavior from Lois. "Lois, what is it?"

Lois shook her head a bit and went to sit on the couch. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Did you and Clark have a fight."

Lois just shook her head.

"Then why did you leave?"

Lois opened her mouth to say something, but then she shut it right away. She wanted to tell Chloe, she really did. But she wasn't so sure if that was a bright idea. She didn't want her little cousin going through shock by finding out that her best friend had been keeping this kind of big secret from them all this time.

Chloe went towards Lois and sat right next to her. "Lois…?"

Lois shook her head a bit. "It's nothing, Chloe…."

"I'm not buying it, Lois."

Lois didn't know what to say. Why the hell had she come here? She should have just left off to the park instead of coming here! _I'm such an idiot!_

The look on Lois' face seemed a little familiar to Chloe. It was the same expression _she _had when…. And then, it hit her. Her eyes widened, "You _know_."

Lois' head snapped up. "What?"

"Clark's secret. You found out."

Lois frowned. "You know it too?"

Chloe gave her a small smile. "Yeah."

Lois didn't want to say another word, though. Chloe might know another secret of Clark's. Lois didn't want to get the wrong idea and reveal something she shouldn't to Chloe.

Chloe _knew _that Lois knew, but she could tell that Lois doubted if they were referring to the same secret. She decided to give Lois some evidence that they were both talking about the same thing. "It has to do with those blue _tights_ he keeps hidden."

That was proof enough for Lois. "Yeah."

Chloe smiled.

"How long have you known?" Lois asked.

"For about 8 years." She braced herself for Lois' fury.

However, Lois didn't give one sign of anger, just more shock. "That long?"

Chloe frowned.

Lois was silent for a moment.

"Lois…what are you thinking?"

"Why I couldn't I have fallen for a normal guy?"

Chloe chuckled. "I don't know. You seem to make a habit of it."

Lois shook her head and let out a sigh. "I _was_ destined to fall in love with a man in tights," Lois muttered as she got up from her seat.

It was amazing that just yesterday she believed Smallville and Superman to have been two distinctive people. Now…she knew the truth. They were one in the same. This sudden news was shaking her world.

"How the hell did I miss it?" Lois she walked back to the couch. "I mean, all this time, trying to uncover Superman's secret identity…. And it was there, staring me right in the face all this time!" She shook her head in disbelief as she took a seat.

Chloe couldn't hold back from grinning. "Yeah, you were a real idiot. I mean, come on, Lois. All you had to do was imagine him with his glasses _off_!" She thought she heard her son give a cry, so she turned towards the hall. However, she didn't hear anything else. She was grateful that Jimmy was fast asleep as well.

A text came into her phone and Chloe checked it. She had completely forgotten about Clark! She read the message and wrote a quick reply. Once she sat her phone down, she promised herself not to touch it again until Lois needed her.

Lois groaned. "I know, I know! Don't remind me!" She had been beating herself up over it already. She didn't need Chloe to add her two damn cents in. She then saw Chloe's phone go off from another text message. Lois let out a sigh. She could only imagine who that could be. "Were you texting Clark?"

Chloe nodded. "Since you turned off your phone and are not answering any calls right now, he got extremely paranoid. He ran throughout the entire streets and is now calling everyone. I told him to calm down and that you're here with me."

"Does he know…? You know…does he know that _I_ know?" She still had not said aloud what it was that she knew. She couldn't bring herself to say it. Maybe because it would make it more real.

Chloe nodded. "Yeah. I told him you'd give him the details later, but that right now you needed a little space."

"What did he say back?" A little nervousness crept inside of Lois. She felt like she was in junior high, getting her little cousin to fend her problems for her. What happened to the fearless, independent Lois Lane?

Chloe chuckled. She too felt like an 8th grader because of her best friend and cousin. "He keeps bugging me about how you're taking it."

"And what did _you_ say?" _Yep. __**Totally**__,__junior high!_

"I told him you're in shock and to leave me alone because _right now_, it's not about him. He may be my best friend, but you, Lois Lane, are my cousin. You need me more than he does," Chloe said in all honesty. "He may be freaking out, but he can handle it."

Lois let out a breath. She should have thought about his reaction before she left her apartment. She regretted leaving in such a hurry. She should have left a note or something; giving him at least a lie of where she was going--like the store. She knew he was worried as hell and wanted to kick herself for putting him through it.

Then, a million thoughts began to run through her head once again and before she knew it, she was long gone. Even though her body was there, sitting right next to Chloe, her mind was somewhere else.

Chloe suddenly turned serious. She could only imagine what Lois was going through. To discover that your boyfriend was none other than Superman, had to be shaking you pretty bad.

Chloe remembered how it was for her when she first found out the truth about Clark, but that had been different. Clark had not been the big superhero he now was. He had not been the protector of all Metropolis then.

This was definitely different. _Lois_ was different. Because as strong and as tough as she came out to be on the outside, Lois was one with insecurities on the inside. She was known for stepping aside and biting her tongue about her feelings when she felt she was standing in the way of someone fulfilling their destiny. She had done it plenty of times with her father and then with Oliver. In Lois' mind, she was not worthy to be first priority to a man that ranked high in society.

Chloe truly believed that one of the main reasons why Lois had totally committed herself in her relationship with Clark was because she believed they were _both_ on the same level. Neither one of them made a big impact in the world, nor did they hold immense power in their hands.

_I've been so wrong_, a quick thought flickered in Lois' mind.

Lois let out a long sigh. She was suddenly getting a headache.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Chloe curiously.

Lois thought for half a second for her response. "Who the hell gave him the ok on wearing the underwear _outside _of his tights?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. She should have known that her cousin was not going to be honest right away.

"No, I'm serious. Did Martha think it was a cute idea?" Lois mocked.

Chloe chuckled. "How did you figure that Martha had anything to do with his wardrobe selection?"

Lois arched a brow. "Please. Everyone in Smallville knows how much of a momma's boy Clark Kent is. I bet Jonathan would have never approved. Now _there _was a man that would have never been caught dead wearing nothing but his underwear."

"Can you please refocus?" Chloe demanded.

Lois let out a sigh. Chloe was not going to let this go. "What do you want me to say, Chloe?"

"Tell me how you're feeling? And spare me the sarcasm, please," Chloe added.

Lois didn't say a word. She just stared at her feet and became lost in her thoughts.

"Lois?" Chloe couldn't stand the silence. Lois was such a chatterbox 24 hours a day!

But Lois said nothing. Chloe decided that she had to pull out the words out of Lois' head. "So…you're obviously shocked--that part is clear."

Lois nodded her head, with the same blank look still on her face.

Chloe frowned. "Are you angry?"

Lois slowly shook her head no.

"Frustrated?"

Another shake, no.

"Pissed?"

A third shake.

"Feeling…disappointed?"

A small shrug.

"Sad?"

Another small shrug.

Chloe let out a sigh. "Then what?! Lois, you really are scaring me here. _Talk_! If you don't let this out, it's just gonna eat you up inside and that is _definitely _not what you want to do."

Silence.

Chloe's patience had come to an extreme low. She pulled Lois' face towards her own and made her eyes meet hers. "Lois, look at me. It's me: Chloe. Your cousin. One of the _very_ few people that you can trust with telling _anything_."

Lois just stared at her for several seconds, while still only half-way present.

Her cousin gave her one of her smiles and took her hand in both of hers. "What is it?"

Lois let out breath and finally told Chloe. "I understand."

Chloe frowned. This was _not_ what she was expecting out of Lois. She had been almost positive that once Lois found out about Clark's secret she was going to go through four stages: **disappointment**--because he had lied to her, **anger**--she would _sure _give Clark a few punches, **cool off**--she would gather her thoughts and calm herself down, and finally **acceptance**--she would not leave him, but stand by him more than ever. And Lois was not following that pattern.

Lois Lane did not rationalize until _after _she gave into anger first. How was it that throughout this whole talk with her, Lois had still not given any signs to Chloe that she was frustrated with Clark?

Staring at her now, Chloe suspected that this _might _not be her real cousin. Maybe Lois was going through an episode of the Body Snatchers or something. Had she and Clark made another trip through the Phantom Zone, or something? _That_ would make a lot more sense than what she was witnessing right now.

Chloe studied her cousin's face for a while. It didn't take her long to see that there was a bit of sadness in Lois' eyes. "You know…he was going to tell you tonight."

That brought Lois Lane back from her thoughts.

Chloe figured that her cousin had to know what Clark had told her earlier that day. She didn't want Lois to think that Clark had not fully trusted her or cared about her enough to tell her the truth about his deep secret. That accusation would have been farther from the truth.

Clark had _always _hated lying to Lois about his secret.

"He even got the League to watch the streets the entire night so that he could spend it all the time with you…to tell you," Chloe said with a smile.

Lois returned it. "I wonder if he would have, if I hadn't caught him."

"I _know _that he would have," Chloe said with absolute certainty. "You should have seen the determination in his eyes, Lois. I've never seen it that strong before in him. He's been wanting to tell you forever, but he never once mentioned actually telling you…not until this morning."

Lois gave a smile and looked away. Her thoughts were beginning to get a little too crowded for her right now. She really felt that she had to get some clear air. So, she began to stand up.

Chloe followed. "Where are you going?" she asked with great concern.

Lois let out a breath. "For a walk. I need to clear my head."

"I'll go with you." Chloe went to get her jacket. She wasn't about to leave Lois alone at this moment.

However, Lois found it ridiculous. "Chloe! What if the baby needs you?" Yeah, her nephew was certainly the perfect excuse for Chloe to leave her be.

"Jimmy is here." Chloe slipped on her jacket.

_Damn. Forgot about the damn photographer. _Lois rolled her eyes. "Please. Jimmy can _barely _take care of himself."

Chloe sent her a death stare. "Don't take your anger out on me or my husband. Just because your boyfriend kept this big, dark secret from you doesn't give you the right to be mean." Even though she said the words, Chloe didn't mean them at all. She was actually very glad that Lois was following the second stage, **anger**.

"I'm not mad, Chloe, I just…." Lois tried to rub away the ache that was now starting to take over her head. "I…_need_ to be alone." She looked at Chloe straight in the eye. "I want to gather up my thoughts. This news is…_huge_ and I kinda need a…_big _breather right now."

Chloe nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry, Lo. It's just that…I don't want you to feel as if you're alone on this. You have me to help you through it. Hell, I was more than shocked myself. But I saw that it got better the more I talked to Martha--since she was the only other one that knew about his secret."

Lois gave her a little smile. "You'd think that someone like Superman didn't _need _protection…."

Chloe chuckled. "Well…it's true. Superman _doesn't _need protection. But…Clark certainly does."

Lois gave a small nod and began to head towards the door.

"Call me to let me know how you're doing."

Lois opened the door. "I will." She gave her cousin a nice hug. "Thanks for the small talk, coz."

"Anytime, big cousin."

With a small smile, Lois left the Olsen home, with Chloe staring after her with a concerned face.

As soon as Lois was out of eyesight, Chloe picked up the phone and dialed Clark's number.

She was not the cousin now, she was the best friend.

------------

Lois strolled around the empty, dark street by herself, reliving these last two hours in her head. Still determining what to do about it…and what to say to Clark. _How _to go back to Clark. She really did not know how she was going to react right when she went back to her apartment…and faced him.

What was she gonna say? What would _he _say to her?

She let out a groan. _Ugh_. This was without a doubt the most exhausting nights of her entire life. When was it going to end?

Lois passed the park and came to a bench. Her feet were hurting. She figured she sit for a while before continuing on.

Lois looked down at her shoes. _Yeah, should have put on the comfy shoes right when I got home._ With that thought, Lois kicked off her heels off. Once they were free, she wiggled her toe.

She looked up at the sky and let out a sigh. Yep. This had been the perfect idea.

For the next thirty minutes, Lois stared up at the sky and thought of nothing. She didn't allow her head to get clouded by worry. She just wanted to get lost in this beauty that was standing right in front of her eyes.

Then, she figured it was time for her to get up and walk again. She had rested enough.

So, she pushed in her heels again and continued where she had left off.

And as she was walking, she _felt _as if something was following her.

She immediately got on her guard.

"Hey, there sugar," came a sleazy voice from the shadows right then.

Lois shook her head. How right she had been. "Not now," she muttered under her breath. She really did not have the energy for this right now.

"Whatcha got in that purse?" a second voice asked.

Yeah, she _really _didn't have the energy now. Maybe if she ignored them…. Her steps continued on a steady pace.

"_**Hey**_! We're talking to you!"

_Great_, she thought. _There's __**three **__of these goons!_

She continued to ignore the three assholes.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and swung her around.

"Give me the damn purse!" The third guy yanked Lois by the arms towards him.

Lois acted on instinct. She drove her right hook right onto the guy's nose.

He let out a groan and dropped her.

The other two acted on instinct as well. They marched towards her, prepared to use force on her now too.

Lois balanced herself quickly and scanned her surroundings. She needed to see what she could use to defend herself. However, there was nothing but grass, trees, and a bench she was too light to carry a few yards away. _This is _just _my day!_

Then, their hands were on her.

"Don't touch me!" she warned. She kicked one on the shins and hit the other on the face with her left elbow. She then gave them each a blow on their privates.

Both let go of her immediately to sooth themselves.

Suddenly, there were a pair of arms around her. It was the third mugger.

"Let go of me!" she screamed on top of her lungs.

Lois struggled against the man's arms. She swung herself forward with all her might and when she felt that his feet were no longer touching the ground, she pushed off the ground and caused him to lose his balance.

And with the energy she had built up, she swung her body forward one more time. Only this time, she was able to swing him slightly over her shoulder. When he stumbled on the grounds, she gave him a strong kick.

She thought that she was finally done with these guys and had given them a lesson; but when she turned around she saw she was wrong…once again.

There, staring her right in the face, was a loaded gun.

Lois let out a sigh. "Great," she muttered.

The mugger took off the safety and pushed it more towards her face. "Now, you're gonna wish you hadn't messed with us." An evil and creepy smile spread across his face as his two partners gave chuckles.

Lois swallowed and scanned her area again quickly, planning her next move.

"Don't even think about it," the mugger with the gun warned. "I'll blow your head off if you try anything funny one more time. And believe me…you _don't_ want to test me."

Just then one of the other muggers had grabbed her from behind. His mouth was real close to her own.

"And _you_ don't want to test _me_," came a deep voice from behind them.

All three muggers turned to meet the voice and gasped once they saw his voice.

Lois didn't dare turn around. She didn't need to see who it was, she already knew. She knew it all too well.  
"Let her go, before you regret it," the man warned.

Then, the men were out of there.

Lois was a bit too skittish to turn around and meet the man's face.

Clark swallowed. Chloe had already told him that Lois knew and he honestly didn't know how to react to this. Was he thrilled that she knew? Or was he down about it? Because, in all honesty, he really _did _want to be the one to tell her the truth.

His entire face grew red just looking at her from behind. He then grew the nerve to say something. "Need a ride home?"

Lois' heart pounded fast. She had taken many flights with the man before and not one of those times had she ever hesitated. But now….

"Or would you rather go on foot?"

Lois took a deep breath. She slowly turned around and met his gaze. And her heart almost stopped as she stared at him in his red and blue suit. _Totally weird_. "Flying is fine."

Clark nodded. "Ok." He slowly walked over to her. And when he reached her, he gave a slight hesitation before he wrapped his arms around her.

Lois' breathing stopped. His arms…. She had been embraced by both Superman _and _Clark. How had she never noticed?

He looked at her intently and swallowed deep. And without another word, he jumped off to the air.

Lois' arms wrapped tighter against his neck and she felt _his _own breath stop for a moment as well.

**Next Chapter**: Lois and Clark talk... ;)


	3. A Wrath of Lois

**A/N: **_Sorry, guys. This took longer than expected. I was a bit busy last week. Since I only have the weekend and Tues to work on it, it got a little hectic. I was going to finish this chapter on Tuesday, but then I comepltely forgot cuz my eyes were glued on CNN and MSNBC during the election results! ^_^ _

_So, ANYWAYS. Here it is: Lois' reaction._

* * *

Chapter 3: "A Wrath of Lois"

Clark was more than grateful that the rain had stopped a while ago. Lois was already drenched as it was.

He took a quick peek of her as he flew high in the skies. He tried not to go too fast, afraid that she would start getting real cold.

_God, she's beautiful_…. He forced his eyes back ahead.

The entire fly ride, both were silent.

Clark was too afraid to utter a word. He didn't want to say the wrong thing that might cause her to react badly.

And Lois didn't know _how _to bring out her words. She knew what she wanted to tell him, but didn't know what exactly to say first. _Maybe it'll be easier when I'm on the ground and able to look at him in the face_, she thought. _And _away _from his embrace_.

They were preparing to land. Very slowly, Clark started to fly downwards.

A shiver ran through her entire spine as he clutched her closer. His strong hands felt hot against her skin. She had figured long ago that Superman could withstand temperature changes better than regular people. She had observed that the weather had an affect on him, just as it had an affect on everybody else. But his body was stronger and could last longer.

Lois turned to meet his gaze, wondering what it was that he was thinking. However, his eyes kept ahead and said nothing.

She turned away and saw that they were a few feet from her apartment balcony. She released a heavy sigh. She was so glad to be home.

When they arrived, Superman carefully put her on the ground, then he did a quick scan of his surroundings, making sure that there weren't any witnesses. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he came to floor contact and followed Lois into the apartment.

Lois turned to close her doors, suddenly feeling a knot tie in her stomach. This was it. Once she turned around, she would have to face it.

So, she took in a long breath to help steady herself and turned around.

However, Clark was nowhere to be seen.

She frowned and looked around the room. She was about to call out his name when all of a sudden, he super-sped out of her room.

She gave him a frown, wondering what he was doing.

He grew a bit red from embarrassment. He had gone two years with using his powers in front of her, but without her knowing who he truly was. She had seen him run in super-speed before, but this was very different. _Now_, it wasn't Superman she was seeing using these superpowers…but _Clark_ instead.

And without knowing what was going through her head, he wasn't sure how to react to that.

Lois still stood there, frowning at him.

He knew what she must be thinking. "I went ahead and closed all of the windows. Then, I checked to see if anybody would be listening in."

"_Checked_?"

Clark gave a hesitation. "Yeah…I, uh, _heard_ what our neighbors are doing."

Lois didn't get it at first. But then it hit her. _Oh, right. He has super hearing_. She gave him a small nod and turned away. "So…what are they doing?"

She was dancing around the issue, she knew it.

"Well, three of them aren't home. And Mr. and Mrs. Kane are snoring," he responded.

She gave another nod and started taking off her coat. She then turned to face him again and for the first time observed him.

Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet. Metropolis' hero. The Man of Tomorrow. He stood still in his blue suit, red cape, red boots, and his S shield on the center of his built chest. His jet, black hair was nicely combed back and his baby blue eyes shined even in this dim light.

And just like always, Lois' breath became unsteady. Her crush and desire for Superman had never left. But now that she knew who he was….

Lois cleared her throat and forced herself to look away.

Clark interpreted her reaction as her being uncomfortable. "Um…I could change…if you want?"

Lois gave a small shrug. "I'm fine, either way…."

She was lying. She actually would rather talk to Clark as…well, as Clark. Looking at Superman and thinking of him as Clark was just a little too weird for her at the moment. It was still difficult to think of both of them as one and the same. Maybe with time….

His thoughts were the same on the matter. For him as well, would be a lot easier to talk to her as himself, _not _his alter ego.

And without even thinking about, he super-changed into his regular clothing. When he looked up to see her again, he saw that that had probably not been the best idea.

Her eyes were wide in shock. Her breathing started getting a little uneasy again. She quickly looked away, not wanting him to see her freak out.

Clark darted his eyes someplace else too. He put his hands in his pockets and began fidgeting with his keys, not knowing what to say.

He took quick glances at her, frowning. This must be really bad. Lois was never silent. She was even more of a chatterbox whenever there was any sort of silence in a room.

After a long fifteen seconds of awkward silence, Lois had finally had enough. "So, you're forgiven for all those times you ditched me." She gave a nervous chuckle.

Clark swallowed hard. And with a pained face, he finally let out what he'd been meaning to tell her so many times. "Lois, I am _so _sorry. I wanted to tell you, but--"

"I know," Lois said with sincerity.

"I didn't want that sort of weight on your shoulders." He took a step towards her, his eyes pleading for her to believe his truthful words.

"It wouldn't have been a burden," Lois cut in.

"It would have been unfair to you." He wasn't listening to her, not really. He just wanted to let it all out already. These 3 years had been almost agony to him. And he could only imagine all the hurt he had caused her by lying so many times.

"Clark." She knew he wasn't listening to her.

"I hated lying to you--"

"Clark."

"_Every_ minute of it. And it's not that I didn't trust you, because I do! I do, Lois!"

"Clark!"

That got his attention. He immediately stopped rambling and looked down at her, preparing himself. _Here it comes_, he said. _Here comes the wrath of Lois_.

Lois sighed in relief and started up at him with loving eyes. She gave him a small smile. "I understand."

He waited several seconds, a little thrown off. And when she still said nothing he said, "But…?" He was still waiting for it.

She shook her head. "There isn't a 'but'."

He didn't get it.

She knew that he was getting confused all the more. "Clark, I know why you had to lie to me. I understand. I get it."

Clark started shaking his head. "Lois, this isn't you."

She rolled her eyes. "God. You and Chloe really don't believe I can be rational, can you?" she muttered.

"No," he said automatically.

She sent those piercing baby blue eyes a small death stare.

"Lois, I know you. I know that right now you're actually feeling _real_ pissed, but you're just holding back for whatever reason."

She shook her head. "I am _not_ angry."

He gave her a look of disbelief.

"I'm not!" she exclaimed in offense.

He really didn't believe her, but she just wasn't budging. _Fine_, he thought. _If she's not going to give in easily, then I'll just have to force it out of her_. And he knew exactly how to rile her up. "So, you're not mad at me for ditching you all those times?"

She shook her head calmly. "No. I understand why you had to do it."

"You're not angry that left you in the middle of a crowded restaurant _countless_ of times?"

"No." The old, angry feelings began to dimly resurrect inside of her, however.

"So, it still doesn't bother you that I left when you were awarded by the city for your article the other week?" He hated doing this, but he _needed_ to. She needed to get it out.

Some anger threatened to burst out of her, but she tried to control it and keep it in. "No."

He knew he was close. He could almost _smell _her wrath. "It doesn't hurt you that I didn't tell my secret? That after being together for a year, I didn't let you in on it?"

Something clutched her heart at that moment. She shook her head, doing her best to control these feelings. "I know what you're doing, Clark. Stop."

"You're not feeling as if I didn't trust you enough to tell you? Hell, Chloe--your _cousin_--has known for ages."

Lois began to walk away. A knot began to tie hard in her throat. "Stop it."

However, he wasn't giving up so easy. He went after her. "So, I guess it's fine that even after that night some months ago when you let out your most _deepest_ secrets to _me_, _I _wasn't as open as you were."

"Dammit, Clark!" That had done it! Lois sharply turned around towards him. She gave him a shove. "Why are you doing this?!"

Even though it was hurting him causing her this anger, he knew he had to do it. Lois had to let it out. All of that anger needed to be spoken. "Answer _my _questions first."

Lois stared up at him, tears now stinging her eyes. She began to remember all those times he had hurt her. All the times he walked out in the moments she most wanted him. He had made her feel deeply insecure every time he turned his back. Every time he walked out of the door, she felt her heart slowly die. Because even though she knew he loved her as much as she loved him, she _knew _he was hiding something.

At first, she believed that it had something to do with his mother or Chloe. And even at times, she was worried that the Green Arrow was having Clark do some _jobs_. It had worried the hell out of Lois. She had even gone to Ollie and threatened to expose him if she ever found out that he was using Clark for one of his _assignments_. She didn't care whether it was for a great cause or not, but Lois did _not_ want Clark anymore _near _the word danger.

She shook her head now, remembering. _If I had only known_…

All those times, during one of her and Clark's assignments for _The Daily Planet_, she had been worried to death about Clark when all of this time he had been…. She couldn't finish the thought. Couldn't bring herself to it.

Looking at him now, Lois did not feel any different in how her heart felt about him. However, the rest of her was a different story.

One thing she hated most was being lied to. _This _Clark had known from the start. She opened her mouth, more than ready to lash out. But just as she was about to scream out her first fury, she looked into his deep, baby blue eyes.

She saw how tender they were. How _lovingly _he looked at her. And she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Tears formed and she bit down her tongue as hard as she could. She shook her head and looked away from him. The knot in her throat was tighter than ever.

It seemed as if someone had just come in and squeezed hard at his heart the moment he saw the tears come. He hated Lois feeling any sort of pain. It was as if he felt it too, only twice as strong.

With complete gentleness, he reached over and placed his strong hands on her shoulders and turned her back around to face him. And when she still did not look up, he lifted her hand with two of his soft fingers.

She knew she had to look up at him. He wouldn't move until she did it. So, taking a deep breath, she lifted her eyes back to his. And just like she expected, she nearly melted.

He looked down into her brown-green eyes intently. "Lois…_please_ tell me," he said in a low, pleading whisper.

He needed to know that her thoughts weren't as he was imagining. Was she being quiet to spare his feelings? Was what she was thinking _that _bad? Was she so frustrated with him that she wanted to break things off, but didn't know _how _to? Didn't know where to start? Or she was possibly afraid of what he would do if she _did _want to break things off? She knew the truth about him now. Knew that with just one finger, he could kill her. God, this was killing him! _Why won't she just _talk _already?_

Lois swallowed. She took a few breaths to steady herself. She saw that keeping her mouth shut was now driving Clark in agony. She always said what was on her mind, never afraid to. So, now that she was keeping silent, she knew it was driving Clark off the walls, possibly thinking the worst.

She saw that he was battling with something inside himself. She placed a warm hand on his cheek to calm him and said with all sincerity, "How can I be mad at the person I most admire in this world?"

His heart pounded hard on his chest.

She caressed his cheek. "The person…I most love?"

He still did not have his answer. "But how do you _really_ feel about this? You _must _feel angry."

Lois took a step back and was about to deny it all again, when Clark took a step forward towards her. He had _really _lost his patience. "Dammit, Lois! Just tell me!"

She _hated _yelling! And that made her snap. "_Don't_ yell at me, Clark! And stop pushing me!"

"Then stop lying to me, Lois!" he demanded in a very deep, angry tone.

She gave him a hard shove. "I have _every _right to lie to you--_you've _been doing it to me for all these years!"

He frowned at her. "So _that's_ what this is? That's why you've kept quiet? You want to get back at me?! Do you think that's a lot worse than the 'Wrath of Lois'?"

"I'm not trying to get back at anybody, Smallville! But if you keep pushing my buttons, you'll _really _see what the 'Wrath of Lois' looks like," Lois threatened.

"Then _why _are you holding back?! Though, I should actually be grateful that my ears aren't bleeding from hearing your annoying voice instead of complaining," he muttered to himself.

Lois wanted to give him a good kick in the gut. Now that her anger was out, she had no way of controlling it. "Do you _really _want to go there, Smallville?"

He arched his brow. "To your wrath? It's not like I haven't experienced before. You lash out at everyone that crosses your ways every damn day already."

Now _that _was the limit. She lifted her left foot and kicked him on the shins with all of her might.

Clark felt a light _twinge_ on his knee. He looked down, frowned, and then looked back up at her with a smug reaction.

She grunted. She forgot! Damn him! "For your information, _Farm Boy_," she said it as she gave him a hard shove--she had caught him off guard, so he stepped back, "it's a good thing that I've been biting my tongue instead of lashing out!"

"And why is that?!"

"Because it will do no good!" she tried to explain.

"_How _would it do no good?!" He seriously didn't get her sometimes.

He looked at him with furious tears stinging her eyes. "Because it doesn't matter, Clark!"

"To _me_, it does!" He couldn't remember the last time he had yelled this much.

Lois shook her head, trying hard to get this out finally. "What good would it do to yell at you? It will only make me feel _more _guilty than I already do!" She turned away as a tear spilt from her eye.

However, he wasn't going to let her face out of his sight. She was finally letting this out, and he _needed _to look at her while she did. He walked around her to face her. "How is it that _you _feel guilty? For what?"

She looked up at him with an impatient look. "Clark…all those times me getting angry with you…me complaining about you being late…me _nagging_ about you skipping dinner dates…." She shook her head, feeling disgusted with herself. "While you were out _saving _innocent people…protecting _all_ of Metropolis…all I did was think about _myself_?"

He too shook himself at her. "Lois…you didn't _know _at the time."

"It still doesn't change the fact that I acted like a five-year-old girl."

"Lois…." He cupped her face with his hands.

A few tears kept coming down. She clutched onto his shirt and cried onto his chest. "Why couldn't you have just _told _me?" she asked in a very low whisper. There, she had asked it. Even though she knew the answer--even though he had already answered it from the beginning--she still _needed _to let out that question.

He hugged her tightly against him and soothed her back. "God, I wanted to, Lois. You have no idea how _badly _I always wanted to tell you."

"But Chloe knew…. How come you couldn't tell me?" Even though she was still very much angry with him, she leaned in more into his embrace. His touch was quickly calming her.

"She's one of the proofs as to why I _couldn't _tell you." He pulled away from her so that he could look into her eyes as he said the next thing. "Lois, everyone that has come to know my secret has faced mortal danger. My parents, Lana, Chloe…they all nearly _died _because of what they know about me. Do you _really _think that I wanted the same fate for you?" A knot formed into his throat and he fought back tears of torment. "I couldn't live with myself if something horrible ever happened to you because of me. I was able to live through my father's death…. I don't think I could survive yours."

An of Lois as a dead corpse flashed into Clark's mind at that moment. Two tears came down his cheeks as he pushed the image away.

Clark didn't have to confess this to Lois. She already had guessed the answer long ago, but it was still a good thing that they were speaking these words out loud.

She reached out and wiped away his tears. "How do you think _I _felt while being kept in the dark?" She stepped closer to him. "Clark…for a while there…I thought that you were _dying_ and that only Chloe and your mother knew about it. I knew you were hiding something big from me that you were much too frightened to let out."

Tears came down from her own eyes now, remembering that horridness time when she honestly believed Clark had cancer or something. She had cried herself to sleep those nights. And even though she had held on to that theory for three days, it had felt like torture. Torture that had lasted for _centuries _instead of a few nights. Thank goodness that Martha had cleared that up quickly.

Lois was now sobbing. Clark brought her back to his embrace and rocked her, as every tear slowly tore _him _apart.

"It was the _longest _three days of my life. I felt like I myself was slowly dying."

Clark gave her a kiss on top of her head. "I'm sorry," he murmured into her head. "I'm so sorry."

"I hate being lied to, Clark. It just…if you can't be honest with me…how can I trust you?"

"I won't keep anything else from you again," he vowed. He turned her face to his. "I'll tell you everything from now on."

"You better," she warned as she gave him a threatening glare. "If I find out some secret about you from someone else's mouth, Smallville…I kid you not, I will make sure that your life is a living hell."

Clark chuckled. He leaned over and kissed those luscious, red lips of hers. A rush of happiness ran throughout his body.

When they pulled away, Lois gave him a smile and moved her arms around his neck. "Now…tell me everything."

He frowned. "About what?"

She rolled her eyes. "About you, you goof. Your home planet. How your parents found you. When did you find out the truth about your origin? Have you always had your powers? Or did they come to you one by one? And how does that x-ray vision work? Is it like on all the time? You're not using it right now are you?" She suddenly became a little self-conscious and took a slight step away.

However, he stepped with her and chuckled once more. "Alright, alright. One question at a time. Yeesh. It's like you want to know the autobiography of Superman."

She gave him a teasing smile. "No…I don't care much for Superman anymore."

He _**arched**_ his eyebrows in surprise.

She brought him closer to her. "All I care about is knowing the complete truth of Clark Kent. Metropolis can keep the Man of Tomorrow. _I'll_ keep the real thing." She gave him a passionate kiss.

"Where do you want me to start?" he asked as he rocked her side to side.

"From the beginning…when you arrived in Smallville…to your first love…to your meeting with _me_--the most important--"

He kissed her then. "That _is _the most important. That's when the adventures of Lois and Clark started…."

"To the _Daily Planet…_all the way up to how Clark Kent became Superman…My man of steel."

He smiled broadly at her….

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**REVIEW!**

**NEXT CHAPTER: **_The day after Lois finds out the entire truth. How will she cope with it now that she knwos the ENTIRE truth?_

(two more to go!!! This story is going to have only 5 chapters!!!)


	4. Stepping Aside, Fighting Back

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NOTE:

Sorry, guys that it took me so long to post this one up. I had visitors and then I got hella sick...Ugh...it sucked. But now, here you guys go! I hope you like it!!!

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Chapter 4: "Stepping Aside, Fighting Back"

_The Next Day…_

"I have to tell you, Chlo. I have _never _had this kind of luck happen to me before--except for when my parents adopted me," Clark said through the phone to Chloe. He had just finished explaining to her about how everything had turned out last night. He had promised her that he would give her a call back in the early morning, before he went to work.

Chloe sighed at the other end. "Clark, it's not because of _luck_ that Lois was able to handle your secret. Lois is tough; I've known for a _very _long time that she wouldn't spazz out when you told her the whole truth."

"But, Chloe…you should have _seen _her. She didn't give the _tiniest _hint of freaking out even for a _tiny _bit when I told her about Krypton or all of the weird stuff that has ever happened to me. I mean, her eyes got a little wide every now and then when I told her something surprising. But her eyes didn't grow in shock, but in _wonder_. Even my parents weren't that controlled when I told them something new about myself."

"Do you think she was faking it, for your benefit and not wanting to hurt your feelings?" asked Chloe curiously.

Clark let out a sigh and shrugged. "I honestly don't know. There's a part of me that's glad--that she's able to cope with it so well because that makes things so much more easier. But then there's another part me…."

"That's just waiting for her to pop and completely lash out?" she finished for him.

"Yeah." He rubbed his temple. "I feel myself on guard every minute that I talk to her now…."

"I bet she senses it."

"She does. She keeps snapping at me to stop."

Chloe chuckled. "That's Lois for you."

Clark let out another deep sigh.

For a moment, neither spoke. Clark was in deep thought--troubled and worried about Lois.

Chloe wanted to change the subject. She knew Clark was beating himself pretty badly right now. "So…when are you planning on proposing?"

He let out a small groan. "Not anytime soon. I'm thinking I should see how it goes these next few weeks. If she _is _going to pop at any moment, I don't want it to be while I'm kneeling down on one knee. Plus, I already put enough on her already. I don't want to add any more pressure."

Chloe pouted. "Sounds fair."

She was really disappointed. Even though she knew what Clark's plans were about when he would propose to Lois _before _he mentioned it to his best friend, Chloe _still_ hoped that he would do the complete opposite and propose to Lois immediately. Both had waiting enough. Both had gone through their equal share of heartbreaks and suffering. They more than _deserved_ each other. Plus, what was the point in waiting much longer? They loved each other. Anyone that knew them--or _glanced_ at them briefly--knew that Lois and Clark were _made _for each other.

"Smallville! We're gonna be late!" Lois called from the kitchen.

"I'll talk to you later, Chloe," Clark informed his best friend.

Chloe suddenly snickered. "Did Lois Lane spend the night at your _house_?" She giggled, dirty thoughts popping into her head.

Clark felt himself grow red with embarrassment. "_Yes_. But it's not what you think. We just _talked_. After I told her everything in her apartment, we decided to take a drive and we wounded up in Smallville. It was late, so she stayed the night. _And that was it_."

Chloe shook her head. "My poor cousin. You always manage to get her all hot and bothered."

Clark felt his flush creep up behind his neck now.

Another giggle left Chloe's lips. "Thank God for masturba--"

"_Goodbye_, Chloe." Clark immediately hung up, just as he started to feel his ears burn up. Best friend or not, he did _not _wish to discuss about this issue with her…or _anybody _for that matter. It was a _personal _and _private _matter between Lois and him--_no one _else.

"Dammit, Smallville! If I'm late and Perry gives me an earful, I swear I'll have your head for lunch! Get your ass moving!" Lois threatened.

Clark controlled himself and grabbed his coat. He sped raced to the kitchen, where Lois stood impatiently with keys in her hand.

Once she saw him she threw him a glare.

He gave her one of his dashing smiles. "Ready?"

"Yes. But apparently _you _aren't," she said as she eyed his tie. He certainly _still _couldn't get that right. She rolled her eyes. It only took her four steps to close the gap between them.

He frowned at her, a little confused. But then he saw her reach over for his tie and he understood. He waited until she was done. "Am I good to go now?"

She took a step back and eyed him up and down. God, there was no other way he looked more handsome than when he wore a full, nice suit and a tie. When her eyes reached his face, she nearly fainted.

His piercing blue eyes shone brightly and his smile just took the breath right out of her.

A desire once again began to rise deep inside of her as she stared at him deeply. _God, how can he do that with just one simple stare_? She asked herself as her breathing became a bit uneven.

Clark frowned at her and became a little worried. Lois' breathing was a little off. "Lois, are you ok?"

And that's what sent her off. His _deep_ voice was all that she needed for her body to trigger.

With no warning, Clark saw Lois throw her arms around him. At first he thought that there was something wrong with her, so he placed his palms on her small waist to steady her, his frown deepening.

Lois let out a moan of satisfaction at the feel of his strong hands on her. She leaned in immediately and began to kiss him deeply.

At first he grew startled, but the passion soon overtook him as well. The _feel _of her hands digging deep into his skin drove him off the walls!

Lois clutched on tighter, wanting to mold her entire body around his. She felt his hands caress the small of her back and she let out another moan of pleasure.

Clark's breathing came down harder, he could barely catch a breath. And then he felt her _tongue_. Clark nearly exploded into a million pieces right then and there. However, he had to stop this before Lois took them both way overboard. With his entire strength, he pulled away. "Lois," he said with a husky voice.

Lois refused to be pulled away from his body. She pushed herself closer to him as he pulled away. "Don't start, Clark. We just got started." She gave him an evil smile and leaned into his lips once more.

It took everything inside of Clark to turn his head away. "Lois." His voice was tighter, and more serious.

He couldn't let this get out of hand. He couldn't afford to lose control with her like this. If they went on further…if he hurt her…. He wouldn't be able to live with himself.

Lois sent him a death stare. "Fine," she said in the most freezing tone Clark had ever heard. She pulled away from him and headed towards the door. "Lets leave, then." The desire she had for Clark Kent had suddenly vanished, and was now replaced with deep annoyance.

Clark almost cringed at the look on her face.

Just as she was about to touch the door handle, Clark was able to block her with his super speed.

Lois exhaled and looked up at him. "We're gonna be late, Kent."

"Lois." He took a step towards her.

She took a step back and looked away from him, not wanting him to see the sudden tears that were threatening to burst out of her eyes.

Rejected was something Lois Lane did not deal well with. Not when she put her heart on the line.

Something squeezed at his heart when he heard her take a sharp breath in. She was hurting. "Lois…please. You know why we can't…_do it_."

Even though he was 26 years old, he still felt uncomfortable when it came to any explicit material, even the word _sex_ made him feel a bit uneasy. But could he really be blamed?

Lois shook her head. "No, I know why we couldn't do it _before_ I knew. I get that. But, what I don't get is why we can't do that _now_!" Her sexual frustrations were getting harder and harder to control.

"I'm not gonna put you in that sort of danger, Lois," he said with determination. "If I were to lose control--" He couldn't finish it. His jaw tightened and he tried to calm down.

Lois' anger quickly vanished. She closed the gap between her and Clark and placed her palms on his chest, trying to soothe him.

The moment he felt her touch, he was almost completely relaxed. He had no idea how every single different touch Lois gave him, he seemed to react accordingly to them. If she touched him softly, he would quickly feel calm. If she were to hold his hand, he would feel at ease. And if she were to dig her fingers in his skin with fierceness, his hormones would go into overdrive.

And Clark had a feeling that Lois also knew this fact.

Once she saw that he was back to normal, she gave him a small loving smile. "I know you worry about what might happen if we were to go _further_, but you have nothing to worry about."

His jaw tightened. "I beg to differ."

Her palm reached out to caress his cheek. "Not if we take it slow."

He met her gaze for a moment. "Slow?"

She snickered and half-rolled her eyes. "Well…not _too _slow. A girl can only hold on for so long." She laughed.

His eyes quickly looked down and he blushed in embarrassment.

Lois frowned and noticed that she had said something wrong--something that had given him some hurt. Just by looking at his face, she knew this. "Clark, I was kidding. Of course, I'd wait until you were completely sure you were ready. You know how I let my mouth run off sometimes. I--"

"Lois," he cut her off. He still tried to avoid her gaze. "What if…. What if after we--uh, after we…_do it_….?" He forced himself to look at her straight in the eye for this next part. "It doesn't turn out the way you expected it to?"

Lois' eyes grew in shock. _Is _that _what he's really worried about? _She thought to herself. _That he'll _fail?!

Clark grew instantly red again and his eyes dropped down. "I mean…you've had plenty, uh…_plenty_. And I, uh…haven't. I don't want--"

Lois shook her head and lifted a finger to his lips. "Clark."

His blue eyes met hers, worried about what she might say.

With complete honesty she said, "I don't care for my past relationships. They don't matter, because I'm now with _you_." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, Clark Kent. And I am _more _than willing to wait for that _perfect_ night for you. When you're ready…so will I." She smiled.

Clark exhaled the air he was keeping in. He stared down at this _perfect _woman and brought her as close to him as possible. "And I love _you_, Lois Lane."

She pressed her lips to his collar and breathed in his cologne.

They stayed tied in each other's embrace for several long moments, taking in the wonderful feeling. However….

_Riiiiiiing!_

Lois gave a small whine and stepped back from her boyfriend's arms.

Clark let out a grunt. He picked up his phone and brought it to his ear. "What's up, Jimmy?"

"Uh, CK? You better get to downtown _quick_," Jimmy said on the other line.

However, it was hard to understand him because of all the background noise.

Clark immediately grew a bit weary. "Why? What is it?"

"There's been an accident. A school bus collided with several cars. The driver lost control of the wheel and…well…it doesn't look so pretty." Sure enough, there was screaming and crying in the background, along with some sirens.

"Are there any fatalities?" Clark prayed that there weren't.

"Two kids…so far." Jimmy's voice sounded like he was trying to hold back some tears. "They were the ages of 7 and 10."

Clark let out a sharp breath. "Lois and I are nearly there." He quickly hung up and turned to Lois.

And by the expression on her face, Clark saw that he really didn't need to fill her in on what Jimmy had just told her. She had heard everything. She looked ready to pass out.

"Are you ok, Lois?" He placed his hands on either side of her, just in case she passed out.

Lois tried to shake off the feeling. She gave a small shake of her head. "I'm fine. Lets just get there as fast as possible."

Clark nodded. "Get your stuff."

Once Lois picked up her coat, Clark swept her in his arms and was out of there in a flash.

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The place was surrounded by cops and news reporters. Clark scanned the area and saw that the place was a bit of a chaos. The bus and a couple of cars were full of flames.

He placed Lois down on her feet and leaned close to her ear so that only she could hear him. "I'll be back. I'm gonna change into--"

"CK!" came Jimmy's voice from up ahead in the crime scene. He caught up to his two friends. "Good thing you guys are here."

"How are the kids?" Lois asked anxiously. Her shaking grew a little more rapid as she saw some kids with deep cuts and bruises on them.

Jimmy turned back to the scenery with sad eyes and then back at his friends. "I just found out from the paramedics that they announced another 9-year-old girl dead. They think she was the last one, though."

"That's awful," muttered Clark as he saw a little boy get put into the back of an ambulance.

Jimmy nodded. "And the strangest thing is that Superman still isn't here."

A knot inside Clark's stomach soon began to form.

"He can't be everywhere, Jimmy," Lois said in great defense and with a bit of anger.

"Of course he can't," came a woman's voice from beside them.

They all turned and saw that it was none other than superhero, Hawkwoman. She stood there in front of them with her yellow/green/red jumpsuit and hawk mask covering her face. Her long, brown--almost red--hair was put down today.

She turned to Jimmy. "Superman's on a mission overseas with Batman, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman," she sent Clark a quick look before continuing on with Jimmy. "He asked me and a few other members of the Justice League to keep an eye on things around here for the next few days. However, it's a bit difficult because we're also looking after Gotham, Star City, _and _Gateway City. And that's also not mentioning _my_ own home--Midway City. Thankfully, Hawkman is able to take care of it on his own."

Jimmy gave a shaking nod. "Of--of course." He tried to control his breathing and sudden sweatiness.

After two years of doing continuous stories on superheroes _and _even getting to meet them--thanks to his closeness to Superman--Jimmy Olsen could _still_ not act like himself in front of anyone in the Justice League. He'd been able to do it with Superman, but that was because he saw and _talked _to him at least three times a week!

Hawkwoman turned back to the bus and children, then back again to the three reporters. "If you'll excuse me, I have more work to do." She turned to leave.

"Do you need some help, Hawwoman?" Clark asked anxiously.

She turned back and shook her head. "Maya is almost here. We've got it covered. Don't worry about it, Clark." She said the last line with a sincere tone. And she met his eyes when she said it, letting him know that she meant it.

Clark nodded.

Hawkwoman's went back to the scene, and sure enough Maya--in her red/purple suit and manifested bow--was soon there at Hawkwoman's side. It didn't take long for the two superheroes to clean up the mess. Maya did most of the work with her mystical water arrows shooting throughout the bus so it could stop the fire.

Jimmy immediately left to take some pictures.

Lois could not take her eyes off of the horrible scene in front of her, or off of the courageous women. "You know who they are?" she whispered to Clark.

Clark nodded and looked around to see if there was anyone around at earshot. "Shiera Hall and Chandi Gupta. Shiera is the curator in Midway City's museum and Chandi is that London woman Bruce Wayne introduced us to not too long ago."

Lois nodded, vaguely remembering. However, she said nothing else. She just kept looking off into the distance…thinking about those kids.

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By the end of the day, both Lois and Clark were exhausted. Clark followed Lois into her apartment.

When they got there, Lois did not utter a word. In fact, she had barely said a word all day long. Clark had not pressed any questions because they hadn't had a moment alone together. However, now they were.

"Lois?"

Lois did not turn. She hadn't heard him.

Clark was more than worried now. He walked up to her. "Lois?"

She finally looked up, her eyes full of sorrow. "What?"

"Lois, what's wrong? You've been awful quiet all day. It's really worrying me." The anxiety in his voice was proof of that.

Lois swallowed hard and walked over to the kitchen. She needed some tea to calm her down. "I've…been thinking."

Clark frowned. "About what?"

Lois filled up a pot and placed it on the stove. She took a deep breath. "About us." She tried to control the clump that had formed in her throat.

"What _about_ us?" Clark felt as if he did not want to hear the answer.

Lois took some several breaths as she fought back the tears that were suddenly about to burst out of her. "I don't think this can work out." She was surprised that she had let that out without her voice breaking.

The blood suddenly fell off of Clark's face. He looked as pale as a ghost. His breathing stopped, his heart stopped. He could not feel anything other than this sudden…emptiness inside of him.

And when she did not get a reaction, Lois's tears finally came down.

"Why not?" His voice was thick and raw.

Lois bit her lip from trembling. Her tears were coming down faster.

Clark waited a little while longer and when she didn't answer, he asked again. "Why not?" This time, his voice sounded a little angry.

Lois tried to steady herself. "This is too difficult, Clark."

"And since when do _you_ give up on anything this easily?" he accused with anger.

She turned to him, angry now herself too. "Do you really think this is _easy_ for me?! Letting you _go_?!"

"You know what I think?" He walked over to her until he was towering over her. "I think you're scared out of your mind to see where this can go to!"

"_I'm _scared?!" She gave him a shove. "_You're_ the one that's too damn afraid of getting _physical _with me!"

"Yeah, I'm afraid for your safety while _you're_ afraid for your heart of getting broken again!"

She shook her head. "This has _nothing _to do with that!"

"It has _everything _to do with it!"

"No, it doesn't! This is about innocent people!"

Clark shook his own head this time. "Don't use that as an excuse, Lois. What happened today was an accident. A _horrific _accident. But things sometimes happen. Things that no one can control sometimes."

"Yeah, but if you hadn't been with _me _this morning, those kids would still be alive!" She screamed out at the top of her lungs. And right when she had said it out loud, her sobs began.

Clark sighed and shook his head. He had suspected that this was the true reason why Lois had been quiet and shaken all day long. He knew that deep inside, she was blaming herself for those children. But she was wrong.

"Lois…that was not your fault." He emphasized every word.

"Yes, it was," she barely let out between sobs.

Clark took hold of both her arms and looked at her straight in the eye. "No, it's not."

Lois took a few deep breaths. "Clark…I can't make you choose. I won't stand in the middle of your destiny."

Clark frowned, confused. "What are you talking about?"

More tears came down. "The world needs you more than I do." Her voice cracked twice. "And…it's not fair for those people to not have a superhero when they really need one just because that superhero has a horny girlfriend he can't to control."

He continued to shake his head. "Lois--"

"The world is more greater than I am, Clark. Lets face it." Her heart felt as if it was slowly getting cut up, because she knew this was true.

Clark was more than frustrated with her now. He shook his head. "Don't ever say that, Lois. You mean more to me than anything or anyone else in this existence."

Lois' shoulders shook uncontrollably. "Clark, you _don't_ understand. They need you--"

"No, _you_ don't understand." Tears filled his own eyes this time as he looked down at her. "Can't you see that _I _need _you_? All those stupid years when we were younger, I didn't know what was staring at me right in the face. You are all I ever wanted and _needed_. And the moment I figured that out some years ago, I was determined not to let you go."

Lois stared up at him as the sobs continued to come down her face.

His own tears were coming down too. He couldn't lose her--he _wouldn't _lose her! He had gone through _hell_…. He'd be damned if he lost her now.

Clark placed his palms on either side of her face and with determination in his voice he said, "I am _not _the General--or Oliver Queen for that matter. I will not let you go. I will _never_ leaving you behind."

Lois shut her eyes as she reached up in her tip-toes to place her forehead against his. "You will one day," she said in a small, tiny voice. "You may not _want _to, but you'll _have _to."

Clark shook his head. "Never," he vowed.

And to lock in that vow, he leaned down and kissed her with all the love he had for her.

Lois more than willingly accepted his lips on hers. For the first time in these _long _minutes, Lois was able to breath again. She felt the air fill up her lungs once again. And the emptiness she had felt for a while there, quickly vanished.

Clark never wanted to let go. He wanted to keep her this physically close to him forever. In his heart and soul, she was already linked to him for all eternity.

Lois felt the same way, but she wasn't sure if fate would allow them that much amount of happiness. She had never felt this strongly about anyone and it frightened her that since it felt so good, one of these days someone was just going to step in and strip her away from it.

And right in that moment, Clark grew stiff.

Lois felt it. She pulled away from him and frowned. "What is it?"

Clark gave her an apologetic look. "Someone set off the alarm at the bank. Shots are being fired." With his super hearing, Clark checked if any innocent people had been shot. Thankfully, he didn't hear anyone being hurt…as of now.

Lois nodded and stepped back.

Clark quickly changed into his uniform.

As she took a deep breath, she stared at him intently. _And he leaves me again_, she thought to herself sadly.

Superman closed the distance between them. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised.

She just nodded, too afraid to say anything else.

"I love you," he said before giving her a quick peck on the lips and flying out of her window.

She stared after him, trying to control herself from crying again

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Next Chapter: "Keep Your Window Open..."

This is the LAST chapter. Lois and Clark have ONE final talk before deciding which destiny they will choose for themselves.

_NOTE_: Ok, so I don't think I'll be posting this last chapter for another two weeks because I usually have free time to write in the WEEKEND. however, since this weekend TWILIGHT is coming out, I'll probably be too ecstatic to even THINK about anything else except for that! *sigh* Goodness, this has been a year of AGONY, waiting for this damn movie! LOL. And then NEXT weekend it's gonna be hell at work cuz of THANKSGIVING! *ugh!* SOOOOOOO not looking forward to that. ANYWAYS! Go out and buy those tickets for the midnight showing! They're selling out FAST! AND! Remember to watch Smallville this Thursday. It's the LAST episode showing this year! :( So sad!

SPOILERS for next episode on Smallville: Clark and Lois ALMOST kiss---but then they are RUDELY interrupted by Lana...or Doomsday...or both! *grrr*


	5. Leave Your Window Open

**NOTE: **_So, I was able to finish it this week. Didn't think I'd be able to. Yay! Enjoy the ending!_

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Chapter 5: "Keep Your Window Open…"

_The Next Morning…_

Lois' eyes fluttered open. The sunlight hit her face and she was immediately awake. As she sat up from her bed, she let out a moan. It took a while for her entire body to adjust to the new day.

She slowly got up and walked out of her bedroom and into the living room, looking around. She saw that nothing was out of place. Her couch looked nice and neat, as if it had not been used at all that night. After she was done scanning the room around her, she let out a sigh.

"Figures. Probably inside another burning building right now," she said to herself. She let out another sigh and walked to the kitchen to make herself some coffee.

Suddenly, she felt a rush of cold wind blow behind her.

"Actually, Maya is taking care of that right now," came a deep voice behind her.

Lois turned around and found Clark standing right there. It took her heart awhile to regulate. "You _seriously_ need a bell on you to warn people."

He cracked a smile. He placed his hands inside his pant pockets. He was glad that he kept at least three extra pairs of clothing and two suits here at Lois' apartment. It came in helpful when they were both working on a story late and Clark couldn't exactly run off to Smallville and come back to Metropolis without Lois getting suspicious. However, that really didn't matter anymore, now that she knew the truth.

Another silent moment fell between them.

It took Lois a while to force her sight away from the handsome man. "Coffee?" she asked as she headed to the coffee maker.

She checked the clock and saw that they still had two hours before they needed to be at the _Planet_. Plus, her apartment was only ten minutes away in walking distance. How would they fill up those two hours?

"Yeah, I'd love some." Clark walked over next to her.

The moment he was within two feet away from her, Lois felt shock waves run up and down her body. Usually, this feeling Clark had excited her. However, after what happened between them yesterday…she wasn't at all sure on _how_ to react with this feeling.

Lois backed away and Clark gave her a frown of confusion. "I'm gonna go get ready," Lois explained with a fake smile.

Clark nodded. "Sure." He knew better than that. He knew that she just wanted to be away from him this very moment. The thought hurt him.

Lois awkwardly left to her room. She took her time in picking out her outfit and doing her bed before heading to the shower. She took even a longer time adjusting her hair and applying her makeup. She was sure that she had wasted _at least _and hour.

That meant she and Clark only had about half an hour before heading to their job.

When Lois finally made it out of her room, a big woof of breakfast smell filled her lungs.

She turned to her small kitchen and saw that Clark had literally made her a buffet. Everything from pancakes to bacon to five different kinds of eggs were laid out for her to choose from. Her mouth grew watery just looking at it.

He gave her one of his winning smiles the moment she met his eyes. "Hungry?" he asked as he pulled out a chair for her at her small table.

Lois hesitated before walking over to her small table. Once she sat down, her eyes darted around to see what she was going to attack first. Damn Ma Kent for teaching her hot son how to cook well! The Kents _knew _that one of Lois' many weaknesses was a great, home cooked meal!

After Lois filled her plate with her favorites, she turned to Clark. "You didn't have to do all of this." At that, she took a big bite of her pancakes which she had smothered in butter and syrup.

He smiled at her as his eyes sparkled at seeing her deep satisfaction. "It was my pleasure."

"I bet my fridge is more than empty right now," Lois accused as she chugged down her bacon.

"I'll fill it up by tonight, I promise." He took some coffee.

Lois shook her head. "Nope. You know the rule, Smallville. I provide with the food; _you _provide with the cooking. This was settled a _long _time ago. I was only teasing."

They both continued with their breakfast and small talk. Lois caught herself smiling a lot. She loved breakfasts like these with him. Nice and simple. Of course, they didn't have too many because he would usually leave before things got too heated between them at nights.

Clark noticed that her coffee cup was running low and he poured her some more.

She cracked a smile as he poured in two spoonfuls of sugar and some honey, just the way she liked it before she headed in for work. "Is this a way of you kissing ass to me about yesterday? Babying me?" she teased. However, she immediately wanted to take back the comments.

Up until then, yesterday had not been brought up at all. And it just _had _to be her that did it. She didn't want to start anything right now. Not when things were so…_normal_.

However, Clark's face turned serious then. "Lois…about yesterday--"

"Clark," she interrupted him. "Please. Lets not get into this right now. Lets just enjoy breakfast."

Clark let out a sigh and shook his head. "Lois, we can't just ignore it--"

"I'm not saying _completely _avoid it, just for now--"

"Until when?" he demanded. "Tomorrow? Next week? Next month?"

"No! Just…not _now_," she insisted. She checked her watch. "We're gonna be late, Clark." She stood up and headed towards her bathroom.

Clark was in front of her in a blink of an eye.

Lois jumped a little. "Ok! I'm getting you a shock collar today!"

"Lois, we're not leaving until we've discussed last night." And he meant it.

And she knew it too. "Perry is gonna have our heads!"

"I don't care about Perry! I care about where we stand." With a pained and desperate expression on his face he said in a small voice, "Last night…well, you sort of broke it off between us. And…I just…I, er, I wanna know if--if you still--"

Lois couldn't _stand _this anymore. She couldn't hear his voice break off this way or have him feel so badly. She reached out and pulled down his face towards her, not able to control herself any longer. She pressed her lips to his gently.

It was one of the most tender kisses they had ever shared. One of the most beautiful. It was enough to almost knock the wind out of Clark.

Lois pulled back a bit and pressed her forehead against his as she stared deeply into his baby blue eyes. "I'm sorry about last night. I overreacted. I'm so sorry."

He wiggled his nose against hers, softly. "So, does that mean you don't want to get rid of me?"

She snickered and held on tighter to him. "Smallville, I don't think I'll ever be _able_ to get rid of you." She gave a teasing laugh. "I promise you that Lois Lane is _never _parting away from Clark Kent."

He chuckled as well. "Lois and Clark…partners for life."

"You bet your ass. In more ways than one." And at that, she lowered down her arms and squeezed his butt in both her hands.

Clark jumped a little.

She grinned at him evilly as she began to soothe him.

A crimson red blush soon appeared on his neck. He cleared his throat and tried to move away from her. "We should go. Perry's gonna have our heads."

Lois shook her head. "Step by step, Smallville." She pressed her lips at the base of his throat and let her tongue linger around there. "Or would you rather me ravish you right now?"

Clark's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he felt her tongue explore his throat. He couldn't choke out a single word.

After Lois was done with her little devilish ways, she pulled back, knowing that Clark would burst into flames if she continued this way.

She gave him a quick wink and went to brush her teeth.

Clark watched her go and tried to catch his breath again. Lois Lane sure did know how to drive him crazy.

-----------------

The next several days passed with such easiness for Lois and Clark. No major catastrophe had happened for a while and Clark saw this as a sign. It was time.

Clark looked around the _Daily Planet _to know where Lois was exactly. He wanted to know that she was well out of ear shot for what he was about to do. When he saw that she was in a heated argument with another reporter, he exited. He found that the safest place to hide from everyone around was at the phone booth.

Once inside, he dialed a number. There was an answer within the fourth ring.

"Hey, Boy Scout. To what do I owe this pleasure?" said a charismatic voice at the other of the phone.

"Hey, Oliver. Are you back in town or are you still overseas with Bruce and Diana?"

"No, we just flew in. I'm right outside of Metropolis with Dinah." said Oliver, the Green Arrow as he turned to his new girlfriend, Dinah Lance.

She sent him a flirtatious smile and turned to her mirror, her black wig falling across her face.

"What are you doing in town?" asked Clark curiously.

"I have a meeting early in the morning with the Senator of Kansas. We're going to be discussing some issues."

"Which issues?"

"I'll fill you in later after the meeting with the guy. Lets just say it ain't so pretty. I have reason to believe that he's working with Danny Brickwell."

"Great," Clark said in a sarcastic tone. "Another politician working with a mobster."

"Tell me about it. So, what's up?" he wanted to change the subject before he got too angry. He truly disliked Brick more than any of his other enemies.

"I'm gonna need another favor from you if that's alright," said Clark.

"Sure. Name it," asked Oliver.

"Would you mind _patrolling_ tonight for me here at Metropolis? I got something important that I need to do."

"Does this involve another somebody by the name of Lois?" Oliver teased.

"Yes."

Oliver gave a low chuckle. "Who would have guessed some years ago that you and my ex, huh?"

Clark let out a breath. Even though he was real great friends with Oliver and knew that Oliver had no more feelings for Lois, it still made Clark uncomfortable knowing that they had had something. And it had been some pretty strong feelings.

Oliver knew all too well what Clark was thinking, he decided to change the subject because he knew that Clark could only be teased so much. "I'll give Hal Jordan a call right now, see if the Green Lantern won't mind doing a double shift."

"Thank you, Oliver," Clark said with sincerity.

"Just, can you do _me_ a favor?" Oliver asked before Clark could hang up on him.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well, there's this hard drive from Brick's office that I _know_ will prove of his connections with the Senator. I can have my team hack into it very easily, but I just _really _need to have it physically. My team can't do it any other way. Would you mind…?"

Clark nodded. "Just tell me where to look."

Oliver gave Clark specific instructions on where the hard drive was. "After you manage to hack into it, drop it off at my office in the Queen Tower."

"Sure. I'll meet you no later than an hour."

"Alright." Oliver hung up the phone.

Clark closed his cell phone and opened the door of the phone booth. Once he stepped out, however, he saw that someone was waiting for him.

"Where you off to, Smallville?" Lois asked with narrowed and suspicious eyes.

Clark let out a sigh. "Doing a favor for Oliver." He knew there was no point in lying to her. She would find out sooner or later. And knowing Lois, she'd find out sooner actually.

"And what is that?" she cocked her head to side.

Clark looked around to see if anyone was listening in. "I need to hack in to Brick's office and grab his hard drive. Seems pretty important and Oliver needs it right away so he can have his team hack into it."

Lois gave a slight nod. "Alright. Well, lets get to it." She turned her heel and went to her desk to grab her phone and purse.

Clark immediately went after her before she got out the door. "Wait. You can't go."

Lois frowned. "Why not?" she demanded. "I can hack into computers faster than _you _can."

"True, but Brick has a _lot _of rough security," Clark pointed out.

"Don't worry, Smallville. I'll protect you." She gave him a pat on the arm and walked around him towards the door.

Clark rolled his eyes as he took her by the hand. "Lois, I'm serious." He stared down at her with deep concern.

She looked up at him with deep determination. "I am too. Clark, I can take care of myself. I didn't need my man of steel to protect me all of the time before I knew about the dual-identity and I sure as hell don't need it now."

Clark's eyes wandered off, wanting to argue with her, but knew she had a point. He couldn't and _shouldn't _be so over protective over her. It would only push her away. Plus, he knew Lois better than anyone else and knew that she could take care of herself very well. Still, it didn't stop him from worrying so much about her.

She smile up at him, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Come on, Farm Boy. We're gonna be late." She turned away from him and led the way out.

Clark sighed and gave in. He went after her.

-----------

Not even thirty minutes later, Lois and Clark were in Oliver's elevator heading up to his private office in the Queen Tower.

Lois held the hard drive in her hands. She turned to Clark with a wide smile on her face. "See? Now, was that difficult?"

Clark sent her a glare. "It almost was."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Ok, it's not my fault that that guard caught us right as we were about to leave."

Clark frowned. "He heard your scream, Lois."

"I tripped."

"Yeah, _after _I had suggested that it would be better if I carried you out of there."

It was her turn to sent him a glare. "I don't need you to sweep me off my feet every time there's a hint of danger, Smallville. I am no damsel in distress."

"I never said you were--"

The elevator came to a stop, but neither of them noticed.

"You didn't _have _to--" Lois argued back.

"Lois, all I'm saying is that sometimes you could be a little more careful--"

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm not as perfect as _Superman_--"

"Will you stop trying to put words into my mouth!"

"I only--"

"Well, well, well," a deep voice interrupted them.

Lois and Clark turned to see who it was.

There they saw Oliver Queen, suit and all, smirking at them. "Guess the happy couple isn't as happy as they let out, huh?"

Lois sent him a glare as she walked out of the elevator. "Don't make me punch you in the face again, Robin Hood."

"I would have loved to have seen that," said a female voice.

Clark turned towards his left and saw that it was Dinah Lance.

She walked over right next to Oliver.

Oliver turned to her and smirked. "Thanks, babe."

She smiled at him and turned to Lois. "How is the most top reporter in the _Daily Planet_ doing?"

Lois sent back the smile. "Not so bad. What have _you _been up to?"

Dinah nodded. "Oh, a little crime fighting here, a little crime fighting there."

Lois frowned. She didn't understand what Dinah was talking about.

Clark walked over to Lois, knowing that she was more than confused by Dinah's words. "She's the Black Canary," he explained.

Lois frown deepened, but quickly her eyes popped. "Oh." She thought back to how the Black Canary looked as she stared at Dinah.

Dinah was grinning from ear to ear, teasingly.

It all came together now and made more sense. "Wow." She shook her head. "How is it that I keep missing this?" she asked Clark as she turned to him. "I mean, all it is a simple outfit and some cover up on the eyes._ I _can do that."

Clark smirked, but decided to change the subject. "We got the hard drive."

"Awesome." Oliver turned to Lois and extended his hand.

Lois hesitated before giving it. "So, what do _we _get out of it?" She gave Oliver a look that told him all too well that she was serious.

Clark arched a brow. "Lois," he said in a tone.

"Shut it, Smallville," she warned.

"We already made an exchange," Dinah said as she snatched the hard drive out of Lois' hands. "Ollie and I agreed to keep an eye on Metropolis for Clark tonight."

Lois frowned. "Why?"

Clark sent Dinah a disapproving look.

Dinah gave Clark an innocent look. "Oops. Was I not supposed to say anything?"

Lois turned to Clark. "What is she talking about?"

"Clark must be planning something big tonight with you, Lo." Oliver looked as if he was a kid in a candy store. His smile was as wide as it could be.

Clark could seriously sock his two friends right now. "Come on, Lois. We gotta go." He grabbed her by the hand and started to head out.

Lois pulled back. "Wait! Smallville, what are you keeping from me?"

Clark could hear his two friends laughing behind him. He let out a groan and decided to screw it. He swept Lois off of her feet and flew off.

It wasn't easy. Lois kicked and screamed the whole way.

----------

Lois rubbed her eyes as she let out a big yawn. She turned to the clock and saw that it was nearly 7PM. Wow. Where had the time gone?

She decided to finish off her story tomorrow and call it a day. As she turned off her computer, Jimmy came strolling in.

"Headed off already? Where's CK?" Jimmy looked around to see if Clark was anywhere.

At the sound of his name, Lois let out a groan. "He got caught up in something."

After Clark had flown them out of Queen Tower, he had left Lois a block away from the _Planet_ and told her that he wouldn't be catching up with her until that night. He said that there was something he needed to take care of.

Of course she had more than demanded for him to tell her what it was that Oliver had meant by Clark "planning" something for her. However, Clark had not budged and had flown off without another word.

Lois could seriously sock him for this! Stupid Farm Boy!

Lois took her coffee and purse. "I'll see you tomorrow, Olsen." She started to walk out of the building.

Jimmy waved to her. "Later, Lane."

The whole walk to her apartment had Lois thinking and wondering what it was that Oliver had talked about and what Clark was hiding. Was there another deep secret that he was keeping from her? Something much more deeper than his dual-identity?

Lois took a deep breath. Well, whatever it was Clark had nothing to worry about. Lois was sure that there was nothing that Clark could tell her that would send her running from him. He should know this by now.

Some minutes later, she was right in front of her apartment. She was about to put her key in her door, when all of a sudden it burst open.

Lois got into her defense stance immediately, not knowing that this might be a burglar in her own home.

However, it wasn't.

Clark gave her a big grin. "Hey, you."

Lois let out a sigh. "Dammit, Smallville. You sure do know how to give a girl a heart attack." Then, something clicked. "Wait. What are you doing here? I thought you said you were gonna be busy most of the day?"

Clark gave a slight hesitation. "Well…I was. Everything's taken care of. Well, so far."

Her frown deepened. "What are you--" Then she saw it. Her eyes moved over Clark's shoulder and she saw the most beautiful thing.

"Oh my God." Lois walked passed Clark as she gawked at her surroundings. "Clark," she said breathlessly.

Clark closed the door behind him as his stomach did flips. "You like it?"

There were candles everywhere; blue, red, and white. The table was full of Lois' favorite dishes. There was a glass of Lois' favorite champagne next to the beautiful table. And there had to be at least a thousand white and red rose petals all over the floor.

Tears stung Lois' eyes.

Clark came up behind her and wrapped her into a tight embrace. "I thought you deserved a perfect night."

Lois leaned into his chest and breathed in the moment. "It's perfect."

Clark chuckled and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "_You're _perfect."

Lois rolled her eyes and turned her entire body around so she could face him. She gave him a long and endearing kiss on the lips. "I love you," she said as she looked at him straight in the eye. "So much."

Clark leaned over and placed his forehead against hers. "I love you, too."

They stood there for the longest of time. Their arms were wrapped around each other as if they were glued--as if they were one. Two pieces of a puzzle.

It was Lois that finally broke the silence. "So, was this what you were planning?" She snickered. "I thought that it was gonna be something bigger, by the way Oliver was talking and how you got so tense."

And then Clark _did _tense, because he remembered the reason as to why he had gone all out tonight. What he was planning on doing.

Lois felt his tension. She slightly pulled away. "What is it?"

Clark took in a shaky breath. "Lois…I gotta ask you something."

"What is it?"

Clark reached over and placed both hands on either side of her face. "Lois, you know how much you mean to me, right? You know that I feel as if you're the one I was born for. I love everything about you." His eyes lingered at every angle he could reach on her face. "Your smile. Your eyes. Your cheeks. Your lips," he said as his fingers touched her entire face. "Your self-consciousness that you try so hard to hide," he said with a chuckle. "I love the way you talk non-stop whenever you get nervous or anxious. But mostly, I love the way how I feel when I'm with you. I know I'm physically unbreakable, but I don't feel that way…when I'm away from you. However, at your side…I feel that nothing can touch me. Nothing can cause me any kind of pain. Because at your side, next to your heart, I'm whole." His blue eyes looked into her own with the greatest love of all.

And as he said these beautiful things, Lois' eyes filled with tears. She couldn't stop the stupid, quirky smile from forming on her lips. "I feel the same way, Clark. Even before I knew you were Superman. When I was in your arms…I feel invincible." She got into her toes and kissed him.

When he pulled back, he knew that this was it. He took a deep breath. And with all the strength in him, he pushed himself down, never losing eyes contact with hers.

And it didn't seem as if she didn't get what he was doing at first.

Clark was now on one knee. He reached into his pocket and brought out a small blue box. "Lois Joanne Lane…"

And then it clicked in Lois' head. "Oh!" Her eyes popped in surprise.

Clark took another swallow. "Will you marry me?" He opened the box and revealed a small diamond ring.

The tears finally made it out of Lois. Her mouth shivered and her hands shook. It took her several seconds to finally get out her response. "Y-Yes," she barely let out.

Clark's smile could have blinded even the sun right now.

She smiled down at him. "Yes, Clark."

Clark got to his feet and took her in his arms.

The two shared the most passionate kiss, each grinning and crying of happiness equally.

------------

"Clark, it's beautiful," said Lois about a half an hour later as she stared at her small engagement ring. It was perfect.

They were both sitting on her couch, arms wrapped around each other.

He kissed her hand. "My mother gave it to me about two weeks ago, after I told her what I was planning on proposing. My father proposed to her with this and she believed that it was appropriate if I gave it to you."

Lois turned to him. "I love you."

"And I love you." He leaned over and gave her another kiss.

When he pulled away from her, she looked at him intently. "So…what did you do the entire day? I know that it wasn't just working on the apartment, because that would have taken you three hours tops--because of all the cooking. So…what did you do?"

Clark smiled. "I uh…went D.C."

She frowned. "D.C. Why?"

"Your father is stationed there now," he said simply.

Her frown did not disappear. "Ok…?"

"I had to ask him for your hand before proposing to you first."

Lois' eyes did another pop. "You…what?!"

"Yeah." He laughed at her reaction.

"What did he say?" Lois had a pretty good idea what her father, General Sam Lane, would have told her boyfriend when he asked for her hand in marriage.

"Well…lets just say that the talk we had lasted about two hours."

Lois shook her head. "Clark, you didn't have to go and ask him. I don't need my father approval for anything--"

"I know." Clark placed both of his hands between hers. "Lois, that's just the way my father raised me. I couldn't have proposed before speaking to the General first."

Lois eyed Clark for a while. "You're too much of a gentleman sometimes, Clark Kent."

Clark kissed her. "I have to keep balance in the relationship since you're always so bad mannered."

Lois smacked him. Not too hard though. She didn't want to hurt herself.

He chuckled.

"Wait until I tell Chloe. She's going to flip."

Clark was about to say something, but something made him stop.

"_Superman!_"

Clark's ear strained to hear the cry for help.

"_Superman! We got a situation!"_

Clark knew that voice too well. He got to his feet immediately.

Lois rose along with him. "What is it?"

"It's Oliver and Dinah. They keep calling for me." He sent her an apologetic look.

Lois dismissed it. "Go, Clark."

He changed immediately. And before he could fly off he went to her. "I'm sorry, Lois. I swear I'll--"

"Clark, go!" Lois knew of his obligations. She wasn't mad or disappointed in him at all.

Clark leaned over and gave her a quick and passionate kiss. Then, he broke it and placed his lips to her ear. "Keep your window open," he said in a husky voice.

Shivers went up and down Lois' body.

And then he was gone.

Lois walked over to her window, seeing a bright blue and red blur disappear into the night.

She smiled. "I always will, Smallville."

And with that, she went to have her dinner by herself. She cleaned everything and saved what she could for him.

Afterwards, she went into her bedroom, walked over to her window, opened it, and went to bed.

She smiled in the pillows as she brought her engagement ring close to her heart. _My fiancé_…. _My Man of Steel._

* * *

**A/N: **_Leave responses, please! Much appreciated! Thanks!_


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